KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — DAP’s Teresa Kok has demanded Putrajaya call off its planned refugee swap with Australia, and charged today that the government had compromised national security by “blindly accepting” 800 boatpeople rejected by Australia.
Under the Malaysia deal, Australia will send to Malaysia 800 asylum seekers who arrived by boat, to have their refugee claims processed here. In return, Australia will accept 4,800 people from Malaysia who have been granted refugee status.
“(Home Minister) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s blind acceptance of the 800 boatpeople who are effectively Australia’s “rejects” puts Malaysia’s national security at risk.
“These 800 boatpeople who are newly-arrived in Australia would not have been screened by UNHCR, thus they are likely not genuine refugees at all,” said Kok in a statement, adding that the backgrounds, language ability, work skills of the 800 were currently “unclear and dubious.”
The Selangor executive councillor charged that there was a “possibility” that the asylum seekers bound for Malaysia had criminal backgrounds as they were arrested attempting to enter Australia through illegal means.
“Hishammuddin hasn’t got a clue who he is welcoming to our shores. By allowing these 800 to enter Malaysia, Hishammuddin is inviting problems into our home.”
The Seputeh MP argued that the 4,800 refugees living in Malaysia should be allowed to remain here, as they were “genuine refugees” who have undergone screening by the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Most of them are Burmese refugees who have been in Malaysia for one to two decades. Many have had their children born in Malaysia, which makes Malaysia the only country their children have ever known.
“Cancel the agreement and let the 4,000 refugees live and work in Malaysia,” said Kok, who added that keeping the refugees in Malaysia would help alleviate the shortage of labour in Malaysia.
Australia’s highest court had on August 8 extended an injunction stopping the deportation of asylum seekers to Malaysia, as lawyers representing a group of boatpeople who were due to be deported said in the High Court of Australia that the government did not have the legal power to send them to Malaysia.
High Court judge Kenneth Hayne extended the injunction until a final ruling was made. The Australian courts will hear the matter on August 22.
Read the original article at Malaysian Insider.